Natsu's hand reached out in the air. His signature grin radiated a warmth that drove away the coldness of the dimension for Tiamat.
Tiamat stared at that small hand. For the first time since the world was created, there was someone who smiled and invited her to come home. The Primordial Mother's eyes trembled. A giant, brightly shining tear fell from her eyelid, striking the sea of black mud below and creating a beautiful ripple of light.
"Aaaaaa..." Tiamat's song was heard again. But this time, the tone was so gentle, as soft as a mother's caress.
"Home... Family..." The telepathic voice repeated Natsu's words full of longing. "I... really want... to go with you... I... want... to see... the Family..."
"Sure, let's go! The guild members will definitely be shocked by your size, but I guarantee they will accept—"
"But... I cannot..." the voice interrupted.
Natsu lowered his hand slightly, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Why?" Then Natsu's eyes glanced at the chains of light binding Tiamat. "Is it because of these chains of light? Let me destroy them with my fire! I will free you," Natsu said, fire already appearing in both of his hands, preparing to attack.
Tiamat seemed to make a small movement. The chains clinked amidst the void.
"It is not... just these chains..." Tiamat's voice echoed with a sad tone. "The world... rejects my existence... My body is too big... and my ocean... this mud beneath your feet... will swallow and destroy the 'Family' that you hold dear..."
Tiamat stared at Natsu intently, channeling her fear of ruining the young man's happiness.
"I am... a Mother who brings destruction... If I come with you... that beautiful 'Home'... will be destroyed by my presence..."
Tiamat's voice slowly faded, leaving a suppressed sob in Natsu's mind. "Thank you... my warm child... You have shown me... a beauty I have never seen... But... Mother must stay here... so that you and your family... remain safe..."
Natsu fell silent. He did not understand half of Tiamat's poetic words, but he understood one thing: Tiamat could not get out of that space because she was too strong.
There was a moment of silence. Then, the sakura-haired young man looked up.
"HAAAAAAH?!" Natsu shouted suddenly. His voice boomed tremendously, making Happy, who was behind him, jump in surprise.
"What kind of stupid excuse is that?!" Natsu pointed straight at the giant face of the Primordial Mother. The veins in his neck bulged from shouting with all his might.
"Just because your body is giant and your power is dangerous, you think you deserve to rot in this dark and cold place forever?! Stop joking around!" Natsu growled, both of his hands now blazing with bright fire.
"But... my mud... will hurt..."
"There must be a way!" Natsu cut in loudly. "There must be a way to get you out of here without endangering other living beings!"
"In the world of magic, there is no such thing as impossible! If your body is too big, we just have to find a mage who can use body-shrinking magic! If your power and your mud are dangerous, we will teach you how to control them, or we will find an empty island that can withstand your power!"
"In my guild, we have a member whose magic can destroy an entire town just by walking! But we never threw him away! We actually rebuilt the whole town so he could come home safely! So stop making excuses and crying here!" Natsu shouted, his breath coming in quick pants. "I will definitely find a way to bring you home to Fairy Tail!"
Tiamat fell silent, staring at Natsu. Behind her starry eyes, she saw an incredibly sincere desire. This young man was not bragging; Natsu genuinely wanted to pull her out of this darkness and give her a home. The Primordial Mother's heart was moved, and the desire to follow him swelled uncontrollably.
Driven by that feeling, Tiamat looked deeper into Natsu. Her gaze pierced through the young man's physical form, diving into the essence of his soul. However, in the midst of that dive, Tiamat found something surprising. In the deepest space of Natsu's body, there resided the existence of one large 'creature' and two strange 'seeds'.
As Tiamat's authority swept over those three existences, the creature inside there—the soul of Igneel who had been quiet all this time—jolted violently. Igneel was in absolute panic! The Fire Dragon King was like a fugitive hiding in the safest place, only to have the roof of his hideout forcibly torn open by a creator god. Igneel broke into a cold sweat because his cover was completely blown, and what was worse, the two entities near him, the Dragon seed and the Demon E.N.D seed, were also exposed by the Primordial Mother's gaze.
Outside, Natsu, who was busy racking his brain thinking of a way to bring Tiamat, suddenly jolted. He felt the magical fire in the core of his chest tremble violently for no reason. The young man clutched his chest with a confused expression, completely unaware that his adoptive father inside his body had just suffered a mental heart attack.
Amidst Natsu's confusion, Tiamat's telepathic voice echoed again, but this time it sounded much calmer and full of hope.
"Looking into you... it seems... there is a way..."
Natsu's face instantly lit up. He immediately looked up at the giant figure. "Oh! Really? You know a way?!"
Tiamat did not immediately answer Natsu's prompt. She only remained silent, staring intently at the sakura-haired young man.
"When looking... into your body, I found something... There are three existences... in there. One takes the form of a living creature, and... the other two are seeds," Tiamat revealed.
Natsu tilted his head, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "Living creature? Seeds? What do you mean?"
Ignoring Natsu's confusion, Tiamat shifted her gaze forward. She focused her mind, and slowly, a light began to form in the middle of the void. The light emitted a bright blue color that felt very warm. Slowly its form solidified, shaping into something resembling a blue-colored seed. On the surface of the seed, there was an 'X' mark pattern that was exactly the same as Tiamat's starry eyes, and at its tip grew two fragile little leaves.
Natsu stared at the glowing object in awe. "What is that?"
"I... tried to mimic the seeds... that are inside... your body," Tiamat explained with a voice as gentle as a gust of wind. "With this, I can... give a part of my soul... the essence of my consciousness, into... your vessel. This will... be called the Primordial Seed."
Natsu seemed to think hard, then his face lit up. "So, with that thing you can get out of this dark space?! Then, what do I have to do? Do I have to eat it?" Natsu asked innocently. He genuinely assumed that the seed was a physical way out for Tiamat to be completely freed.
However, the Primordial Mother's answer broke his hopes.
"No... I cannot get out... My real body will remain... left behind here," Tiamat answered softly.
"Is that so...?" Natsu's expression instantly turned gloomy. His shoulders slumped in despair, and he bowed his head deeply, feeling he had failed to bring his new friend home.
Seeing the young man's sadness, Tiamat hurriedly continued her words. "But... with this seed, I can be connected to you."
Natsu raised his face again. "Connected?"
"Correct," Tiamat's tone now sounded full of hope and longing. "With this seed... even though my body... is trapped in this eternal darkness, my eyes... can see the vastness of the world... through your eyes. I can hear the lively laughter of your family through your ears. And most importantly... I can feel... whatever you feel. Whether it is happiness... sadness... or anger... We will share feelings, and I can continue... to feel your warmth... wherever you go."
Hearing that explanation, Natsu's smile bloomed again, growing wider until his eyes narrowed in happiness. His disappointment evaporated without a trace. Without the slightest hesitation, he patted his own chest proudly.
"I see! So you're going to tag along in here, right?!" Natsu laughed cheerfully, returning to his energetic original nature. "In that case, come on in! I'll show you around, let you see my world, and introduce you to all the Fairy Tail members! I promise, from now on you will never be lonely again!"
Happy pulled Natsu's leg anxiously. "Na-Natsu, are you sure this is safe? Master Makarov and the others will definitely have a heart attack when they find out what kind of member you just recruited!" Happy protested, staring at the glowing blue seed in panic. "Besides, this giant isn't necessarily good! Earlier she almost killed us just by doing nothing, right?!"
"Relax, Happy!" Natsu grinned widely and patted the blue cat's head. "My nose never lies! I can clearly smell that Tiamat is actually a very good person. She won't hurt us, I'm sure—"
Natsu's words were suddenly cut off by a heavy, booming voice from out of nowhere.
"NATSU! DON'T ACCEPT—" A warning shout sounded so close and familiar, but the voice was suddenly cut off forcefully as if someone had gagged him.
Natsu's eyes instantly widened. His heart pounded fast. "Igneel...?"
Natsu jolted violently. He knew that heavy baritone very well. "Igneel! Is that you?! Was that you who just spoke?!" Natsu shouted hopefully towards the pitch-black void.
The young man spun his body in panic, searching for the source of the voice in all directions until he looked up at the ceiling. However, nothing. His proud red dragon's figure was nowhere to be found.
A moment later, when Natsu turned back toward Tiamat, he was too late to realize that the star-eyed patterned blue seed was already floating down. The seed glided right towards him and shot straight into his head.
Natsu gasped softly, his body tensing slightly. But instead of pain, an incredibly comfortable and soothing warm sensation slowly flowed freely, filling every corner of his entire body and soul.
However, that warm sensation slowly changed. For some reason, Natsu suddenly felt his body become extremely tired. His eyelids felt so heavy, as if a great force was compelling him to fall asleep immediately, and...
Thud!
His body collapsed helplessly, hitting the ground. In the last remnants of his blurring consciousness, he saw Happy's tiny figure running in panic towards him while continuously screaming his name.
And a gentle whisper full of affection from Tiamat actually echoed very clearly inside his head.
"With... this... you... have officially become... my biological child..."
Hearing that one-sided declaration, darkness completely swallowed Natsu's vision, and the young man lost his consciousness.
(transition)
In an inner dimension filled with a sea of hot lava, there was a giant red dragon. The Dragon's face looked filled with immense panic. He looked up, staring at the ceiling of that inner space.
"Natsu! Hey, Natsu!" the dragon called out repeatedly with a booming voice, but there was no answer at all from Natsu.
"My, my~ Just relax, Mr. Fire Dragon King Igneel-san. You don't need to be so panicked," greeted a female voice that sounded very cheerful.
Igneel, whose name was suddenly called, immediately turned to the source of the voice. His eyes glared sharply at the foreign figure who had infiltrated Natsu's body earlier. "You! Why did you silence me earlier?! Do you know what you have done?!" Igneel yelled angrily at a purple-haired woman with a ribbon on her head, who was now floating casually in the air.
"Nope, I don't," the woman answered lightly, then chuckled. "You guys are just foreign anomalies who were suddenly thrown into this world. How could BB-sama know about you?" she said, introducing herself proudly.
Before Igneel could speak, the woman named BB spoke again with a mocking tone.
"Ufufu~ Besides, you wouldn't be able to do anything earlier anyway. If you dared to forbid your son, it's highly likely that the Primordial Mother would have instantly erased your existence right then and there!" BB smirked. "You yourself can feel how incredible that monster's power is from here, right?"
Even though BB's words sounded very condescending, Igneel could only remain silent with gritted teeth. He could not argue. Even from inside Natsu's tightly sealed body, the Fire Dragon King could feel the absolute terror from Tiamat's power, which was impossible for him to fight against.
"Your son is truly very interesting!" BB exclaimed while folding her arms.
"Even though his magic power is weak, he managed to move the heart of a Beast II! He's just like my Senpai... but a much stupider version!" she giggled, recalling a certain master figure.
"Actually, my initial plan was just to drop by and watch how your son would be finished off and swallowed by that Beast. But I never expected something this ridiculous to happen! He managed to move a mountain that is almost impossible to move! Ahahaha! This is so exciting!" BB burst into laughter. She even rolled around in mid-air with glee.
"Grrr..." Igneel glared at BB's behavior with restrained anger. Thin smoke billowed from his snout. "What are your plans for Natsu?!" shouted the red dragon.
BB instantly stopped laughing. She turned around and stood straight right in front of Igneel's giant face without the slightest bit of fear.
"Fufufu~ Don't worry. I have no intention of killing your son at all. In fact, I—"
BB's words were suddenly cut off. She looked up at the sky of that world. A bright beam of blue light slowly descended piercing through the dimension, bringing a very sacred aura. It was the 'Primordial Seed' sent by Tiamat into Natsu's body.
"Looks like she has arrived," BB muttered with a mysterious smile. She then looked towards the place where Natsu's consciousness resided. "Alright, Natsu-senpai! I have decided to join your adventure from now on!"
Elegantly, BB flicked both of her hands. Instantly, several transparent hologram screens filled with rows of digital codes appeared floating in front of her.
"What are you doing to my son?!" Igneel growled in confusion, looking at the glowing rectangular objects.
"Hehehe..." BB smiled mischievously while typing something quickly in the air. "An Isekai transmigrator's adventure in another world wouldn't be complete without being equipped with a System, right?"